The Power of Love
by CullenCrush
Summary: During Voldemort's rise, Rachel Potter and Sirius Black go from hate to friendship...and maybe more? But jealous boy- and girlfriends and especially Sirius' younger brother don't like to see them so close ... and slowly the situation gets out of hand...
1. Prologue

The Power of Love

**The Power of Love**

**A Sirius/OC story**

**Prologue**

A tall woman stood in an expensively furnished, unusually dark room that held a certain coldness. She faced the wall, and her long, manicured finger traced the lines on a heavy tapestry that showed a magnificent family tree that took up almost the entire wall. Her finger was located at the bottom of the tree, at the names "Walburga" and "Orion", connected by a double golden line. Lingering on the name Walburga, a self-satisfied smile curved thin lips. From this name, the woman's finger followed a vertical golden line, dividing into two names. It slowly ran over the name "Regulus" and cold, grey eyes gleamed with a kind of egoistical, arrogant pride.

Then the finger stopped as the grey eyes slowly, as if having to force themselves to do so, slid from Regulus to the name beside it and the woman's face twisted up in anger and hate. Her eyes left the name for a moment to look at the golden letters that were written above the tree – _The noble and most ancient house of Black _– and then slid back down to the name beside Regulus. With a snarl, she furiously jabbed her finger at the golden letters.

_Sirius_

She snarled again, staring at her son's name with hatred.

"Listen to this-" Orion Black said to his wife the very same evening at dinner, "There has been another attack – 'The Dark Lord strikes again .. five muggleborns killed yesterday in another attack of the Deatheaters-" he smiled cruelly, "'when the ministry arrived, the house was already in ruins. The ministry of magic once again stressed the importance of extra security for everybody .. Albus Dumbledore says-"

"Again that muggle-loving fool?" Walburga snorted. "What a country we live in, where an old, mad muggle-lover is quoted in the newspaper."

Orion sneered. "Pure-bloods are simply not respected for their superiority. There are still people who think filth and trash like muggle-borns and half-bloods should have the same rights that we have. The purification of the wizarding race is long due, I have always said." He pointed at the newspaper. "At least someone has the right idea and tries to get rid of the filth that calls itself muggle-born."

At this moment, there was a small explosion at the end of the table. A youth, about sixteen, with the same midnight black hair, grey eyes and aristocratic looks as his parents, was on his feet, slightly shaking, the plate in front of him in thousand pieces.

"Don't you dare say that again", he hissed at his father, uncontrollable anger in his voice. "You, you think you're so much better than everyone else …"

Orion folded the newspaper, looking bored. He stood up, leaned over the table, and suddenly lifted his hand and slapped his son with all his strength. His son didn't move an eyelid, just stood and said nothing while red strikes appeared on his cheek, like someone who is so used to being hit that he doesn't care at all.

"Sit down, Sirius. You can call yourself lucky that you are even allowed to dine with the rest of the family, disgrace that you are. Sit and shut up." Orion said threateningly.

"Oh, but Orion…" Walburga whispered suddenly, her eyes flashing evilly at her son. "Do you know that .. our _son_ is not only a filthy traitor who associates with mud-blood lovers and Gryffindors and the likes, but also lately has gotten closer to one of them? A mud-blood?"

Orion's neck grew slightly red. "I know what a disgrace he is", he said. "I cannot tell you too often how much I wish he was not in my family. You, Sirius", he snarled at the sixteen-year-old, who sat on the edge of his chair, looking livid, just barely controlling his anger, "you are not worth calling yourself a Black."

"Oh, give me something new", Sirius suddenly hissed. "Disgrace to the name Black… shame to the whole bloodline … you think I don't know that already? Try and come up with something different, 'cause that insult is getting really old."

He was answered with a blow in the face. He staggered backwards, his hand flying to his nose who had given an alarming crack. He made no sound.

"Look at your brother!" His father shouted, pointing at the fifteen-year-old beside him, who was staring at Sirius in disdain, "_he's_ no insult to our name! _He_ understands his responsibilities as a pure-blood! At least Regulus is a worthy supporter of the Dark Lord!"

"Regulus is nothing but weak", Sirius snarled. "Weak and too stupid to see what a load of stuck-up, idiotic, arrogant, evil show-offs you all are. You think I'm a disgrace to the name Black? Well, I hate that I have to call myself that, for it shows I'm related to people like you!"

It was apparent he had known he would get hit for that again, and so it was, but this time it was his mother. Striking him across the face with the back of her hand, her ring cut his forehead. Again, Sirius didn't show any kind of reaction or signs of pain, just kept glaring at his parents with hate. The next statement of his mother apparently shocked him more than any of the blows he had received during the evening.

"Regulus is joining the Dark Lord", Walburga said icily.

The colour drained from Sirius' face. His mother triumphed.

"He is the pride of the family, devoting himself to ridding the world of all half-bloods. Vowing to be in life-long service to the Dark Lord."

Sirius sat on his chair, the cut on his face bleeding slightly, completely white with horror.

While his mother rattled on about his courage, his being the pride of the family, Regulus stared at his brother with extreme dislike, his pale face reflecting triumph.

Sirius, still deathly white and apparently unable to speak, kept looking from his mother to his brother and back, a look of pure disbelief and shock on his face.

"He is doing what not many people dare to do, what you could never to do, he is bringing his family glory, he is making us, and the name Black, proud, by joining the Death eaters, and all you do is sit here, a burden and disgrace!" his mother finished.

This time, Sirius didn't care about the insults aimed at him and muggle-borns. He stared at his mother, his eyes wide. Then at his father, who wore a look of grim satisfaction.

"Regulus … Voldemort …impossible!" he croaked.

"Why do you think it's impossible?" Regulus suddenly piped up. "You think I'm not strong enough? You think again that you're the only one who can do anything in this family?"

Sirius shook his head numerous times, as if desperately trying to understand.

"Regulus, please … tell me it's not true! You're not joining the Death Eaters!" he whispered, horrified.

Regulus drew himself up to his full height, which was still considerably smaller than his brother, and said, "oh yes I am! I'm doing what I know is right, what will help the purification of the wizarding world!"

Sirius suddenly slumped. He was breathing shallowly, all his strength, all his will seemed to have vanished, left was nothing but defeat. He was staring at the floor, his eyes suddenly dull, mortification and sorrow visible on his face.

His parents seemed extremely satisfied. His mother stepped behind Regulus' chair, staring down at her slumped eldest son.

"Regulus sets an example for you, Sirius", she said. "While you can never be as good as him, never undo the disgrace you have brought upon the noble and ancient house of Black" -at this name, Sirius flinched- "you can still try and follow your brother."

Sirius raised his head slowly, the defeated look still clearly visible on his sorrowful face.

His father spoke up. "Your mother and I have decided that you, Sirius, will join the Dark Lord as well."

Sirius winced.

"While we know that you are not worthy, we cannot stand by and watch this any longer, your befriending mud-bloods and the like. Therefore, you will become a Death Eater alongside Regulus."

The room was silent. Sirius was still slumped in his chair, staring into nowhere, his forehead bleeding. Then, just when his parents thought he would dare utter any protest, he suddenly spoke up, in a tone of such fierce determination that it left his parents speechless.

"I will never join Voldemort."

He did not say it loudly, yet it seemed to resound throughout the room.

His mother's mouth fell open and his father stared. Apparently none of them had expected such determination from their son, especially not when he was in such a state of defeat.

"Oh, I think you will", his father said dangerously, as soon as he had regained his composure.

Sirius lifted his head. The haunted look in his eyes never disappearing, the colour not returning to his face, he slowly, but determinedly shook his head, his eyes staring right into his father's hateful ones.

"Never."

"Y-yes you will!" his mother almost screeched. "You have no choice."

"That's where you're wrong, mother. I will not join Voldemort, not now, or ever. You have managed to corrupt Regulus, you managed to turn him into a weak creature desperate for power, but not me. I'm on Dumbledore's side, and that will never change."

Orion, trying to overpower Sirius' determined tone, snarled and planted himself in front of his son. Sirius slowly raised and stared back at his father at eye-level.

"Never." he said once more.

A low growl came from the back of Orion's throat, he seized his wand, and, pointing it at his son, yelled in uncontrolled rage, _"Crucio!"_

Regulus went rigid, his face whitening, his eyes glued to his brother, who had fallen to the floor, his screams echoing through the house. Regulus' eyes filled with terror and a strangled noise erupted from his throat.

Orion stood over the writhing form of his eldest son, his face twisted in pure anger, his wand trembling with fury.

Walburga still stood behind Regulus' chair, her icy eyes on Sirius. Not a flicker of emotion crossed her face.

Finally Orion lifted the curse. Sirius lay on the ground, twitching slightly, eyes closed. He was bleeding.

Orion panted in fury, reaching down, grabbing Sirius' arm violently and hurling him up. The boy staggered, not able to hold himself up. He very slowly opened his eyes, as if it cost him an incredible amount of strength.

His eyes were blank of emotion. Only that flicker of determination was still there.

Orion shook him brutally. "I will tell you this one last time. You will join the Dark Lord and become a Death Eater. Is that understood?"

Sirius swayed, his eyes threatening to fall closed again. He was close to unconsciousness. His lips moved a few times before he managed to make a sound. When he spoke, his voice was croaky, and yet still firm.

"I will not become a Death Eater."

Orion's scream of fury echoed through the whole house.


	2. The unwelcome guest

The Power of Love

**Chapter 1**

**The unwelcome guest**

Rachel Potter woke up in the middle of the night from a sudden craving for food.

It wasn't that she hadn't eaten dinner, it was just that she woke up and realized that she was incredibly hungry and under no circumstances would she be able to go back to sleep without getting something to eat.

So, yawning, she got out of bed, thanking heavens that it was summer, and even dressed only in panties and a night top ending above her navel, she was anything but cold. Groggily, she opened her door and stumbled into the floor, down the staircase and into the kitchen.

By the time she was by the fridge, the prospect of food had pretty much awakened her.

She made herself some cereal, adding an amount of sugar that would have made her mother faint, but thankfully, everyone but her in this house was fast asleep.

Taking her cereal with her over to the couch, she selected a movie, switched on the TV (a present they had gotten from a distant cousin, who was a muggle), plopped down on the couch, and prepared to get comfortable.

What a wonderful thing summer holidays were! You got to get up in the middle of the night to watch your favourite movie while eating sugar with cereal, sitting on a comfy couch barely dressed and still warm.

She picked up her bowl of cereal and started eating slowly, eyes on the screen.

Sitting there, feeling utterly peaceful and comfortable, she was truly happy, until something, or rather someone, decided to intrude upon her peaceful night-movie-lunch.

The movie was just at one of its most suspenseful points, which was the reason why Rachel didn't hear anything, even when the door to the living room opened.

Only when someone cleared the throat beside her, did she look up. Thinking it was one of her parents, come to scold her for watching TV in the middle of the night, she tried to look as guilty as possible.

"Umm .. hi", said the someone.

Rachel screamed.

The bowl of half-eaten cereal clattered to the floor and broke.

They must have made a funny picture, Rachel often thought much later. Herself sitting on the couch, in barely more than her underwear, cereal and the broken pieces of the bowl by her feet, him standing beside the couch wearing only his boxers, his black hair ruffled, his expression shocked and bewildered.

Breathing heavily, Rachel jumped up from the couch, staring at the intruder.

She had to blink several times before she could trust her eyes.

His black hair was slightly long but shorter than it had been before the summer, it now didn't reach his shoulders. His grey eyes were as deep and intense as they had always been, staring at her now with complete confusion. There was a cut over his left eye, that looked like it had only just started to heal. His cheekbones were high and pronounced.

And he was only in his boxers! His upper body, well trained and very good-looking, was an additional distraction to the situation that was confusing enough in itself.

His hair was ruffled and his eyes slightly sleepy, as if he had just gotten out of bed. And even though he looked as bewildered as she felt, his full lips curved upwards ever so slightly, in the smallest hint of a smirk she knew only too well.

It was, without the shadow of a doubt, Sirius Black.

The good-looking, popular guy from school, her brother's best friend, whose arrogant attitude had always annoyed the heck out of her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she screeched.

"Hi Rach", he said simply.

"Ha-ah!" Rachel screeched again, gesturing wildly at him and then at herself.

"What", he said, the smirk still tugging at his lips.

"Hello! This is my house! It's the middle of the night! You live far away from here! What are you doing here, Black?"

"Oh, um, you didn't know? I'm visiting James…"

"You are _visiting _James? Why the hell didn't he tell me? And what do you think you are doing, wandering down here in the middle of the night and scaring me half to death, while, I might add, I'm pretty much only in my underwear?"

His eyes sparkled. "Now that", he said cheerily, "is pretty much the thing that bothers me the least about this whole situation."

She let out a frustrated scream and pointed an angry finger at him.

"Get out", she said dangerously.

He held up his hands. "I'm sorry", he said sarcastically. "I was hungry and thought I could get an apple or something down here. Didn't know that you had chosen to be out of bed at the same time."

"This. is. my. house!!" she shouted. "I don't know why you're even here, but if I want to watch a movie in the living room, I will. And I will do it without you! Now go!"

"Alright," he said, giving up. "I will. I had thought you might let me watch that … movie thing with you-" seeing the murderous look in her eyes, he quickly broke off. "But, I have put that idea aside years ago. See you tomorrow, Rach."

"MY NAME IS RACHEL!"

"Woah, woah. That's fine, Rach-" she made a move as if barely restraining herself from strangling him, "-el."

He grinned at her, standing there in her underwear, fuming, then turned swiftly and went up the staircase, two stairs at a time.

"Nighty-night!" she heard him call.

The pillow she threw at the staircase missed him, sadly enough.

-

"Please, _please_ tell me you're joking!"

"I'm really not, Rach."

"You _have_ to be kidding me!"

"Why? Is it so hard to believe that my best friend is going to spend the rest of the summer at this house?"

"Why? Why?"

James looked troubled for a moment, but the look was quickly replaced by his usual cheerfulness.

"Because it's more fun this way. You're such a bore. With Sirius around, I get to have fun."

"And I get to have my holidays ruined!"

"Relax, sis! You don't have to be around him at all, if you don't want to! I don't understand why you don't, though.."

"James, brother of mine-" she stared right at her brother, whose hazel eyes danced with laughter. "I. Hate. Sirius. Black. And I just cannot believe that you're telling me he's going to spend the bloody rest of the summer here! With us! Three weeks in the same house as Sirius bloody Black? _Three_ weeks?"

"You got it, Rachel. He's gonna stay here, and you better start getting friendly with him, because mum and dad have already fixed everything and he's definitely staying."

"Argh!"

"Why in the world do you not like him? I think the two of you really could be great friends."

"James. We could _never _be friends. Where did you get that idea? He thinks he's able to look down on me. He dislikes me as much as I like him. He's an arrogant prick who thinks himself better than everybody else just because he is apparently "hot" and can play Quidditch. He likes to brag to others about his oh-so-amazing talents and takes pleasure in tormenting other people, which, I might add, you do too and it's really disgusting, and I have many other reasons!"

By now, James was openly laughing. "Oh Rach, this is what any seventeen-year-old is like. He can't help it if he's a guy."

"Don't you ever say something like this again! You know I can't stand this talk, 'I'm just a man, I have to be a prick', it's disgusting an a dumb excuse for people who don't know how to behave themselves."

"Ah, sis, you're just angry that he has never given _you_ the time of the day", James said mockingly.

"HA! You wish! As if! As if I would ever want such a prick to like me! I hate him and I'm quite fine with him not liking me either!"

"Aww, Rach, you really have some serious temper controlling problems. Don't get so worked up about everything." He stood and ruffled her hair. "Bye, sis. I'm gonna go apparate over to Sirius. Oh wait," he winked, "I don't have too. He's here already, and will be for the rest of the summer."

Rachel picked up the nearest object, a book, and threw it at her brother.

Laughing, James disappeared out of the door.

-

"Hey mum, I'm going swimming with Ana today, that okay?"

Mrs Potter put down the pan in which she was making the delicious Potter-pancakes, and said slowly, "actually I was kind of hoping you might want to go with the guys today.."

"With the guys?" Rachel repeated, her voice dangerously low. "The guys, as in my brother and his good-for-nothing friend?"

"Rachel", her mother said, turning to her. "Listen. I know you dislike Sirius, but he's here, and he's definitely going to stay here until school starts. He doesn't have the easiest of lives, ok? And while he may appear shallow to you, I wish you could at least try and be civil."

"For your information, I _am_ civil. This is me being civil. Crap, of course he has an easy life. He's popular, don't ask me why. And his parents probably spoil him silly. And _why_ is he even staying here? This is completely out of the blue and ruining my summer!"

Her mother's eyes clouded and she seemed sad. "Rachel-" she started, then broke off. She stared at the floor for a moment. "Please, just accept him." she said finally.

"Mum – is there something you're not telling me?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

Her mother smiled a forced smile. "No, heavens, no … where did you get the idea?"

She turned back to her pan. "Do you want pancakes too, Rach?"

"Mum…"

"And it's ok. I see why you might wanna go out with your friends. You can go swimming", her mother interrupted.

"Um.. oh, ok."

-

Ana was a muggle sixteen-year-old, a lively, very girly sort of girl, who didn't have any idea about her friend's true identity as a witch. Rachel had often wanted to tell her, but had been strictly forbidden to do so. Ana had moved into Rachel's neighbourhood in the summer after she had turned fourteen, and they had become friends, ever since then spending most of their summers together.

At eleven thirty, Ana arrived in front of the door, wearing her usual mini-skirt and tight top, a towel and bathing suit under one arm, huge sun-glasses over her eyes and a happy grin on her face.

"Hello!" she called, much louder than was necessary, when Rachel opened the door. "Are you ready for some swimming?"

"Hi! Yeah, just a sec, I need to get my stuff…" she turned around and ran back into the house, up to her room and grabbed her bag, then turning around and sprinting down the staircase again. It was a lovely day, very warm, and extremely promising for swimming.

She jumped down the staircase and hurried towards the door happily, when she suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and stared.

Sirius Black was standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, a flirtatious smile on his face, while he was talking animatedly to Ana. Her friend seemed mesmerized, her eyes fixed on Black, and when he said something that was apparently funny, she let out a loud, extremely girlish giggle, batting her eyelashes somewhat suggestively. Black's smirk widened, and he was about to say something, when he was interrupted.

Furious, Rachel came up behind him and pushed him back into the house, away from Ana.

"Unbelievable", she muttered. "This is just unbelievable. I leave her alone for _two seconds_, and you-"

Sirius eyed her with dislike, pushing her arm off. "Well, excuse me for being a polite person and talking to people I see standing in the doorway."

Rachel marched up to him and gave him another push. He raised his eyebrows. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked coldly.

"Stay the hell away from my friends", she said in a low voice. "I have had enough of that."

For a moment, he seemed confused, then he shrugged. Before he turned around, he winked at Ana, who let out another giggle, winking back.

"What are you doing?" Rachel hissed at her.

As soon as Sirius had disappeared in the house, Ana's expression changed entirely. She stared up at Rachel with a frown.

"What was that about? I was just talking to him, why did you act like he was a criminal?"

"Trust me, you don't want to be talking to him", Rachel said simply, dragging her friend outside and closing the door. "Come on, lets go swimming now."

"But why not?" Ana hurried to ask. "He seemed nice."

"Oh come on. He could have behaved like a murderer who just escaped from twelve years in prison, and you still would have thought him nice."

"But did you _see_ what he looks like?"

"Far too often for my taste."

"Oh come on, Rach, he is bloody _hot_! You have to admit he's the most stunning guy ever! I mean, those eyes are just … wow!"

"Oh my God, I can't believe he's doing to you what he's doing to every girl. Did you see yourself back there? You were behaving like a brainless Barbie doll!"

Ana laughed, not bothered. "I did not!"

"Oh please! You were doing the giggle-batting-your-eyelashes thing! Not that you don't do it always, but … don't you have any dignity left? He's arrogant enough as it is, he doesn't need you to throw yourself at him to make his head even bigger! Don't forget that I'm the one that has to live with him!"

Ana choked. "You _what_?"

"That's right, I have to live with him! He's my brother's best friend, come to spend the rest of the summer with us! And whenever I ask why, everybody just stops talking!"

"Oh my God! I have to struggle with two younger brothers at home, and you get to spend three weeks in the same house with the most gorgeous guy ever to walk the earth?"

Rachel clapped her hands over her ears and started running. "I don't want to hear that Black looks good! I don't want to hear that Black looks good!" she screamed.

"But he does!" Ana yelled back.

"He does not."

"Of course he does, admit it."

"Ok, so he might not be ugly, but you still better stay away from him."

"Why?"

"Because Ana." suddenly she was serious. "I know him, ok? I've been going to the same school as him for six years. He is incredibly arrogant and doesn't care for other people's feelings. I know this. I was there when-" she broke off abruptly, clearing her throat. "The bottom line is, he doesn't care the least bit about others. He only cares about getting his fun, that's what he cares about. He's the worst kind of guy. He thinks he's the greatest and every girl must swoon at the prospect of being with him. The worst part is, that girls _do_ do that."

"Oh well, I can see why .."

"Not everything is about looks, Ana! Looks can be completely misleading!"

"Ok, ok, don't get so worked up. I still might come over to your house from time to time …"

"You're beyond help."

"You know what? When he is concerned, I think every girl is."

"That's not true. I know many girls who don't give a damn about him."

"Really? who?"

"Me of course."

"Well, you are an exception. You don't count. By the way, does he have a girlfriend?"

"Bah! He is not the dating type, so forget it. Believe it or not, for some reason he has gone out with one girl in all the time I've known him, so don't count on getting asked out or anything. Although he _is_ constantly flirting."

"No steady girlfriend? That's good news …"

"Will you just shut up about Sirius Black?" Rachel yelled in frustration. "He's not a bloody God!"

"No …" Ana sighed dreamily. "But _wow_, he's close."

At this, Rachel gave up.


	3. Beautiful

The Power of Love

**Chapter 2**

**Beautiful**

When Ana and Rachel returned from swimming that evening, James and Sirius were already home, much to Rachel's dismay. When Rachel opened the door and Ana peeked over her shoulder into the living room and saw James and Sirius there at the table playing chess, she immediately pulled Rachel outside and suggested to come in for a while. Rachel strongly objected, not only because of Sirius and the danger he was for her friend, in her opinion, but also because she feared one of the careless guys would say something about Hogwarts and them being wizards and put her into an uncomfortable situation. She was trying to convince Ana when her brother and Sirius appeared behind her and ruined everything by saying,

"hey, we wanted to go out and grab a bite to eat, and we were wondering whether you'd like to come with us?"

Rachel groaned. Ana, on the other hand, beamed and said overenthusiastically, "what a fantastic idea! We're coming, aren't we, Rachel?" she said, staring at her friend threateningly.

Rachel stared back with a look that said 'well, you have to know what you are doing', and gave in.

"Great!" James said cheerily, and minutes later, Rachel found herself on the way to the nearest café, behind Sirius, Ana and James, who were talking away happily, while she trotted after them. She reminded herself that the only reason she was even going with them was to make sure Sirius stayed away from Ana, and stared at the back of her friend's head angrily.

Ana was actually similar to Sirius in some ways, not just because they were both good-looking. Ana lived by the motto "enjoy life and take what you can get", and to her, that meant fitting in as many hot guys as possible. She made good use of her looks, and at only sixteen had had her fair share of boyfriends, none of which she had been with for more than a week. While Rachel was in no way opposed to having a boyfriend in itself, she couldn't help but feel repulsed by the prospect of kissing complete strangers in a disco. Ana was the opposite, this was her definition of fun. While Rachel couldn't understand Ana's handling of boyfriends, they were still very good friends and she couldn't bear the thought of Ana getting hurt by the one person she truly despised.

She wondered why she was even so worried about her friend, the worst that could happen to her was a snog and then his going off with another or telling her that they were over, but Ana wasn't the kind of person to be deeply hurt by such a thing. In fact, she herself had done the same thing to others many times.

And yet … she just didn't want to come across Sirius kissing Ana. No way.

Suddenly, James stopped and turned to face her.

"Hey, sis!" he called. "What are you doing, trotting behind us like that? Come up front, chat with the rest of us, _have some fun_!"

Sometimes she really felt like strangling her brother.

"Yes!" Sirius was yelling too now. "You have the perfect company to change your life style for the better! You need to get out more, liven up your sad little life!"

"Argh!" Rachel lunged at Sirius, but just before she made to slap him, James grabbed her from behind.

"Tststs", he said. "We were just kidding, Rach! No need to get violent."

Rachel struggled against her brother for a few seconds, while Sirius raised an eyebrow at her, smirked, and crossed his arms, tapping his foot.

"Well?" he said. "Are you ever going to come and hit me, big bad Rachel? Of course, for that, you'd have to be strong enough to get away from James, and since it doesn't seem like that is going to happen anytime soon, I'm afraid I'm going to have to wait for the hitting in vain … good for you, actually, because I'm afraid in pure self-defence I might cause some serious damage to that pretty face of yours…"

Furious, Rachel gave him a very rude hand-gesture. Sirius backed away in mock horror and Ana collapsed laughing.

But that didn't annoy her half as much as the fact that Sirius immediately went to pick Ana up, and the triumphant look he gave Rachel while doing it.

Sirius Black _knew_ she hated him near Ana, and he enjoyed it all the more for it.

-

Rachel spent the evening sitting gloomily at a table staring at Sirius and Ana flirting shamelessly.

She had known Black's staying at her house would bring nothing but trouble. But did he content himself with being mean to her? No, he had to annoy her through her friends.

Sometimes, he would look up from his flirting, shooting her an arrogant smirk over Ana's head. He knew exactly what she was thinking, and obviously loved that she couldn't do anything about it.

That was nothing new, he always loved it when she was uncomfortable.

Rachel vividly remembered the first time she had met Sirius Black, which had been in autumn of their first year; James and Sirius having become best friends from the very moment they started school.

She and her two best friends, Lily Evans and Dorcas Meadowes, had come out to the lake to do some studying there (that is, Dorcas, who was a very ambitious person, wanted to study, Lily and Rachel had more or less been forced to come with her). When they reached the lake, they were met by the sight of James and Sirius, lounging by their favourite tree, looking bored. Remus was with them, reading, and Pettigrew was sitting a little by the side.

Lily visibly reddened when she saw James. Somehow, Rachel's brother had had an enormous effect on her ever since they first met. He simply made her angry. She could rattle on for hours about his arrogant attitude and the way he thought himself better than everybody else.

Rachel was not bothered. She loved James; he was her brother, but she was fully aware of his being nowhere near faultless, and she had to admit that most of the things Lily said about him were partly true. And she was pretty sure that they were going to end up together anyway. James was the only guy that Lily ever thought about for a longer period of time. He was the only one who was pretty much constantly in her thoughts. Did it really matter _what _she thought about him?

Anyway, Lily already got angry at the sight of James only. But when she saw that he and Sirius were happily insulting everybody who walked past them out of pure boredom, she seemed close to an explosion. She sat down with us, staring over at them, looking furious.

Rachel decided that, for some unknown reason, she couldn't concentrate with her friend plotting the murder of her brother beside her, so she swiftly got up and walked over to the guys.

"Hey you", she said, kicking James, who was lolling on the ground. Not hard though. He looked up lazily.

"Oh it's just you, Rach", he said uninterestedly.

At that moment, a guy from James' and Sirius' year walked past them, and Sirius took the time to shout "nice try with Johnson yesterday, Miller! Too bad it was just about the worst try at getting a girl to go out with you in the history of the world!"

James cracked up at this, something not understandable to Rachel.

"Do you mind?" she said, tapping her foot angrily.

"No, not at all, beautiful, what is it?" Sirius said nonchalantly.

Rachel's frown deepened. "Don't call me that when I'm trying to have a serious conversation." she said.

"Oh, ok, beautiful. You can have a serious conversation with Sirius anytime you want. Seriously."

James fell into another laughing fit. Rachel scowled. "Do you really think you're funny?" she asked, annoyed.

"Oh no, I couldn't be more serious."

James doubled over with laughter. Sirius smirked and continued.

"I mean, not that I'm not always Sirius anyway, but I mean, now I'm even more than usual. Serious, I mean." Black sat there, looking at her, smirking, his eyebrows slightly raised.

Rachel kicked her brother who was rolling around on the floor laughing. Hard. He stopped laughing immediately and sat up.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Well, what I originally came here to tell you, before your stupid idiot of a friend interrupted me, was that you should stop insulting people just for the fun of it when Lily's near."

James immediately paid attention. "Lily's here?"

"Oh, yes she is, and she's going to murder you if you don't leave other people alone, got it?"

She looked up from her brother just in time to see Sirius opening his mouth to shout something at a passing couple.

"Black!" she shouted and he closed his mouth and turned to her. "Oh hey, beautiful. Long time, no see."

"I said, stop bloody calling me that!"

"No, you said I shouldn't call you that when you were trying to have a serious conversation with me. Now I don't think you are trying to do that anymore, so I don't have to be serious. And that means that I can call you beautiful whenever I want. Hey, beautiful!"

She lunged to slap him, but he was fast. In a second, he had his wand out and she was in the air, hanging over the lake.

"You!" she screeched. "Black, you prat! Put me down this instant!"

"Really?" he said lazily, his wand dangling from his hand. "Are you-" he paused, "serious?"

"I don't have time for your silly jokes!" she screamed furiously. "I mean it, if you don't put me down now-"

"Beautiful, no need to get worked up. I can let you down if you want it."

"I want it!"

"Ok then, it's what you asked for."

He flicked his wand, and lifted the spell off of her.

She fell right into the lake.

When she resurfaced, James was laughing uncontrollably _again_, and Sirius was wearing an extremely self-satisfied smirk.

"What?" he asked, shrugging, when he saw her wild expression. "You wanted to be put down, didn't you?"

Rachel screamed in rage.

It wasn't surprising that they hadn't turned out to be the best of friends, to put it nicely. With such a start … he had been a right prat from the very beginning. The first time they had actually met he had dropped her into a lake.

But at least one thing she had accomplished that ridiculous afternoon.

He had never again called her beautiful.

-

Rachel and James looked very similar. You could immediately tell that they were twins. Both had the same, jet black hair, but while James' was always ruffled and impossible to tame, Rachel's was the exact opposite, extremely straight, long and shiny and she was very careful it stayed that way. Rachel wasn't vain, but the thought that her hair could one day look like James' was her greatest fear.

Both twins had exactly the same, warm hazel eyes that drew people to them. Both were rather tall and very athletic, since both were Quidditch maniacs.

Rachel, while not stunning, was a pretty girl. But she didn't really care much about her appearance. Her friends, Quidditch, and her dislike for Sirius Black, took up so much of her time that she couldn't understand where she was supposed to fit in things like putting on make-up or picking out an outfit. Sports, mainly Quidditch, were her main purpose in life, she was on the Gryffindor house team and everything except her friends had to understand that Quidditch was first priority. This made it pretty much impossible for her to date anyone who was not interested in Quidditch, and since it wasn't like she was being showered with dating-offers anyway, she so far had never had a boyfriend. She couldn't be bothered less, she was sixteen, and her life was just starting. Girls who whined over not having a boyfriend at fourteen already, disgusted her.

Therefore, she actually was at a loss to understand why she and Ana were even friends, what with Ana being an overly girly girl, but she figured that in all other ways, they were pretty similar and she liked her, and, right now, was worried about Ana.

She knew that Sirius didn't care in the least about her friend, and she also knew that were something to happen between them, he wouldn't even do it for the fun of it, well, not just for the fun.

His main purpose would be to piss _her_ off, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to bear to have Ana hurt because Sirius Black had used her as means to annoy Rachel.

They had come home late that evening, and when Ana kissed Sirius on both cheeks, batting her eyelashes at him once more, and giving him an over-friendly wink, all at once, she knew that if she kept letting Ana into Black's presence, or, worse, when she let them be alone together, chances were high that something would happen between them.

And she definitely didn't like it.


End file.
